Bound Through Space
by Schmendrick the Demented
Summary: The tenchi cast in a whole new world
1. Prologue

Prologue   
  
**"False Mask"**

  
  


Graceful hands rose slowly towards the ceiling. Stretching leisurely the body beneath the mound of sheets and duvets gradually awoke to the fierce stomping of her mother. Sleepy eyes emerged from beneath their comfy cocoon of warmth to glare menacingly at the pacing woman. "What do you want Mother?" The last word fairly radiated aggravated sarcasm. 

Two hasty deep breaths were made before the livid woman spoke. "Well first you can get your lazy ass out of bed, get dress, and then tell me what the hell you plan on doing today?" The pacing woman stopped so suddenly the fabric of her elegant dress billowed about her in a furious riot of motion. 

"In a minute. I'm too comfy to get up. Besides there's nothing pressing to deal with and nothing important to do today." The princess in the bed rose to sit her voice creaking and squeaking around the words as she continued to stretch.

The woman standing across the room glowered heatedly at the occupant of the bed. "Nothing to do? What do you mean there's nothing to do?" Her voice questioning as she anticipated the next words from the lazy form in bed.

"Exactly that! I have nothing to do. There is nothing for me to attend to, nothing for me to concern myself with, and definitely _NO ONE_ to bother with." The words had a definite bite to them, leaving little room for discord. This was not the discussion she wanted to have this morning, not to mention her mother being the last person she wanted to have this discussion with.

"I'm going to ask you calmly and kindly, what exactly do you mean by there is nothing and **_NO ONE_** to bother with?" Flashing eyes and heightened color in her cheeks easily gave indication as to the speaker's ire. 

Having enough and knowing there was no escape from the ensuing battle, the princess rose from her bed. "He means nothing to me, so why should I concern myself with him?" The words were issued off-handedly.

"Nothing? How can you say that?" The elder of the two women in the grandly decorated bedchamber was flabbergasted. Watching as her daughter rose from bed, it seemed impossible that the flippant creature ambling about the room was the same girl that never ceased to worry over others. She exploded. "He sits in his cell searching for a way to find you and you say he means nothing? Do his journeys mean nothing to you? Do his sacrifices, his torments and scars mean so little?"

Exasperated she turned from her wardrobe to snap at her mother. "You cannot tell me that he has done more than he chose. Do you honestly believe that he made those sacrifices, as you call them, without expecting some reward? I am not his quest; his fair helpless addled maiden," hands clenched beneath her chin, wide eyes fluttered with mock innocence in cruel pantomime as she donned the image of the royal damsel in distress. "I don't intend to become some sanctimonious, self-righteous, narcissistic, pissant prince's heroic trial into the greatness of legend. I refuse to allow him to ride me into his destiny." 

"But my lady," the sarcasm in the title was blatantly obvious even to the guards outside the room. "You cannot simply forsake him, after all he has done and all he has endured. I refuse to let you ignore all that he has done for you!" Her daughter was becoming no better than a pompous royal brat, and princess or not such an attitude would not be tolerated. 

"Do not forget your station old woman!" The tone was fierce; the dismissive words were arrogantly flung across the room as cyan hair was glibly tossed over a naked shoulder. Calmly, with deliberate indolence the speaker gradually dressed for her day. 

Caught to the quick, emerald eyes darkened to a lethal shade of forest green. Seething rage clenched her teeth, as heated words were nearly lost in a furious snarl. "Don't you EVER presume to remind me of my station. I am the king's concubine and **your** mother. If it were not for me your life, position as princess and royal heir would not exist. You of all people in existence should realize the precariousness of position and power." The elder yet seemingly ageless crimson haired woman replied as her mouth pressed into a hard unyielding line. 

An answering anger rose in the princess, she would not be forced into accepting anyone, to include the man rotting away in one of the palace oubliettes. Snide cruelty focused ravenous spite and razor wit onto the elder woman. "Mother, you would do well to realize that as a concubine you are unfit to grace father's side and as a concubine you will never be more than an ornament."

With a sigh of contrived patience, restless hands smoothed the silky fabric of her dress as the concubine lifted cold eyes to look at her daughter. "Some days I find it amazing that someone raised in such privilege can have such a disgustingly cynical view of life." 

Momentarily rattled by the coldness of her mother's gaze, the princess turned away to collect herself. Squaring her shoulders she easily voiced her malicious thoughts. "Blame your station MOTHER. If it weren't for the way I was raise, watching you play second class citizen to the Queen's whims, I may have been the perfect princess that you so lovingly wish for." 

Nodding her head in resigned acceptance mother agreed with daughter. "Yes, I will accept that blame when the time comes, but know this I chose to become your father's concubine rather than his wife and queen. He needed an alliance that only marriage could provide and you my child will never be capable of that kind of sacrifice." 

"Sacrifice is highly overrated." Gaining confidence, the princess finished dressing and turned her attentions to her hair. Easily tossing the spurious comment at her mother with all the afterthought given to a wasted tissue.

A faint sneering quirk of a smile lit the elder's face. "You, my child should have never had a whipping girl. Of all the royal brats scampering about this disgustingly ornate palace you are the most egotistical of the lot. I should have ensured that your tutors beat humility, compassion and understanding into your stupidly arrogant hide." 

Affecting the blasé tone of superiority the princess drolly replied. "Tell me mother how exactly do you beat compassion into someone? Is it something that only royalty is capable of or can the simple folk partake?" 

Sucking in a heated breath and rounding angrily on her daughter Washu refused to tolerate her daughter's insubordination any longer. "I hope that you end up having to endure what that boy prepare to rot in that cell had to go through to get here. I have no idea why or how but he cares for you. I cannot image any reason a young man as kind, and loving could ever have feelings for a heartless, cruel, unfeeling self-serving harpy such as yourself. He's too good for you!" 

"Too good for ME! Too good for ME!" Ryoko angrily huffed out in surprised indignation. "How can you say that he's too good for me! He is nothing but a lowly pissant peasant. Where as I am the soon to be ruler of the greatest most powerful nation that has ever existed in the annul of time!!" Wounded pride added a piercing dissonance to her voice, raising her tone to a painful shriek. 

Emerald eyes locked onto gold as Washu reasserted her dominance over her willful offspring. "One, you are not ruler yet. Two, he may be nothing but a poor dirt farmer from a remote lowly, little, third-class, backwater planet but he has more of the noble qualities of humanity than you will ever posses in your lifetime. And thirdly my dear child, there are other empires equal if not greater in power and wealth than ours." 

Refusing to lose her stride Ryoko switched tactics. "Since we are in such a mood to begin inventorying each other's low points, lets discuss yours, shall we? Lets start off with your spineless simpering! Your constant kowtowing to that blithering dither brain we humble people of this realm generously call a queen! Lets not forget to mention the fact that father has now accepted a second woman as his wife." The princess's eyes flared as she watched her mother digest the new information.

"Ah.... I see by the look on your face you didn't know that!" Smug mirth easily lifted Ryoko's lips into a supercilious grin. "Well, he's got himself another wife and from what I understand she already has a brat in tow. That's is neither here nor there. I want you to perfectly understand the situation you are in Mother. You are simply and will always be a lowly, unkempt, servile, useless concubine... which as even the youngest of lowly commoners knows is simply the royal term for **WHORE**!"

Before the word left Ryoko's lips, Washu's hand was in the air and sailing towards the princess's mouth. As the word was spoken the loud crack of hand meeting face startled the guards outside the princess's living quarters. The shocked silence within the room was deafening as both mother and daughter were left to simply stare at each other.

"You Highness is anything the matter? Are you in need of our assistance?" Came the calm voice of the guard that usually stood to the left side of the door.

Shaken from her trance Ryoko was momentarily at a loss for words. Then raising her right hand to the glowing mark on her cheek, her left rose to cover her mouth in hopes of containing any more horrifically damning words. With a voice that sounded devastated, hollow and wooden the princess replied to the guard without removing her eyes from her mother's face. "No, no I'm fine. I simply dropped my hairbrush." Despite the interference of her hand the princess spoke loudly and clearly to the guards. 

Startled fear blanched Ryoko's cheeks as she thought over the possible consequences of her mother's actions. Had the right words been spoken the guards would have rushed into the room and taken her mother away forever. It was considered high treason for anyone except for the emperor and his queens to lay a hand on a single one of the royal children. Had the princess wished she could have her mother put to death. Had she really said those words to her mother? Flabbergasted disgust flashed through her eyes as she struggled to stop her hands from trembling.

With cold emerald eyes Washu watched her daughter intently. Waiting for the princess to speak to her. Waiting for her possible death sentence. Waiting for the possible return of her darling girl with the bright smile, ready cheer, and troublesome mischievous nature. Waiting for her Little Ryoko to come to her senses.

Finally after the silence began to hang with a stifling thickness the princess dropped her hand and opened her mouth to speak. "I...I...I... I'm sorry." The stuttering apology was a timid whisper, its tentativeness made more pronounced by the distinct silence that engulfed the words. "I didn't mean what I said...It's just ... I'm scared...I haven't even met this guy." Emotions no longer hidden behind self-righteous ire, Ryoko trembled as she noticed the unsettling similarity between her future at the hands of the consulate and her father's current plight.

Washu nodded with maternal understanding and opened her arms to her daughter. Sympathetic realization blossomed in the mother's heart. _`A mask, she was hiding behind a mask... She does care...she's just frightened.'_ Stepping forward mother slowly and cautiously folded her daughter in her protective embrace. 

Shaking within her mother's arms Ryoko questioned her fate. "I don't know what he's like and I know that if he's done all the things that the advisors say he's done I _WILL_ have to marry him. I don't want to get married yet; I'm too young to get married..." 

Tears hovered at the edges of her voice as she quivered with unvoiced sobs in her mother's arms. "I want to go into space and see the stars...I want see what life looks like for myself. I want to know just once before I'm permanently tied down what true freedom feels like... I don't think I hate him but how can he expect me to marry him if I don't even know him! HOW?" 

Whispering comforting words into her daughter's hair Washu took this moment to formulate a plan. Washu had only briefly seen the young man in question and had noticed something familiar about him. It was that very familiarity that tickled at the back of her mind. Something about this young man was different. Different from the rest, different from anything she had ever seen. 

With any luck that difference could be something that could be exploited. Something that could bring the young man and Ryoko together, intuitively something told her that this young man was exactly what the doctor ordered. And if he wasn't, then at least he would be a welcome distraction. In the end there was still a lot of planning to be done, and oh so much more machinations to undertake. 

After all she wasn't the world's greatest...no, strike that, the empire's greatest...no... strike that too...the universe's greatest genius...yes, yes she liked the sound of that...stifling the temptation to begin laughing manically she finished her thought. After all she wasn't THE UNIVERSE'S GREATEST GENIUS for nothing.

  
  
  


**Post Chapter Rant**: It's baaack... not necessarily better than ever, but I'm re-working it after re-reading it and hating the conflicting style differences. So here's the new style with a few story adaptations. Hope you like it. 


	2. Dreaming of her

**_

Dreaming of Her

_**   


Down in his cell the lowly, pissant from a third-world, backwater planet scratched the back of his head as he tried to understand how he had gotten himself into the position he was in. One moment he had been doing the chores he set about everyday as part of his grandfather's mandated training. The next thing he knew he was flying off into space trying to fulfill all the requirements necessary to meet the woman that had haunted his dreams for more years than he could remember. 

Now twenty-eight he had long since gone to college and graduated, advancing through the ranks at his father's architecture firm at an alarming rate. Eventually expanding his career horizons beyond his father's small firm and settled into a rather impressive position at the most renowned architectural firm in the nation. Once he had earned enough money to allow his father to retire and support his small family easily Tenchi took over his father's firm and re-established it as THE architectural firm for the inspired and chic. 

Every vacation the still young man took was spent along side his father and grandfather. And anytime he was near his grandfather the habit of falling into the old routine of dutiful grandson and willing apprentice fell over him like an old blanket. Tenchi took comfort in the old routines of a life that normally he didn't live, except during holidays and family gatherings. It had been ages since he had practice his kata. His grandfather was right, Tenchi had gotten slow and soft. 

Looking back now, he couldn't understand how he had managed to get into his current predicament. He was usually such a rational and reasonable man. When his grandfather had shown him the picture of the young woman and explain all that he would need to do just to get a glimpse of her, Tenchi had simply nodded in acquiescence. Transfixed by the glorious image before him, all he could think about was what she would look like in reality. Up until the moment he had laid eyes on the limpid, mischievous, golden irises that were staring out at him from the photograph; he believed she was simply his childhood imagination gone desperate with need for companionship. 

Ruefully chuckling at himself Tenchi realized that unlike most imaginary childhood friends his had never left his side. Seemingly eternally present in the young man's thoughts, in the last couple of years thoughts of her were relegated to his unconscious mind. His need for coherent thought during the day pushed aside daydream vision for his daily life in the city. Only at night in bed, while he slept did he allow his mind the freedom to conjure her image.

And through the years she had grown with him. He could still remember how they had fought time and time again during his childhood as to who was the taller. She would have a growth spurt and pass him; he would have one and pass her, back and forth their height became a constant battle through most of those pre-teen years. And not just height, but strength had been another constant battle. They had wrestled and fought with each other, both constantly striving for dominance. Funny how back then, being close to her had never felt awkward. 

Chuckling again he remembered telling her repeatedly he would never like girls, but since she was, as his father called her "Imaginary" he saw no reason to dislike her. And as time past and Tenchi had grown from child to adolescent so too did she. In high school he had few friends and even fewer girlfriends always feeling somewhat unsure around others his age. Yet even as his awareness of his imaginary friend diminished in his daily life she became a greater and greater presence in his nightly dreams. 

Shaking his head Tenchi watched as his hands began to shake as the images of his dreams flashed chaotically through his mind. First his dreams in those early teen years had consisted of nothing more than conversation and child-like play. Then as both began to change in appearance the undertone of the play changed as well. Tenchi had marveled at how the little girl that had been to him a scraggly tomboy, grew into a simply ravishingly seductive siren. 

Their conversations had grown increasingly more intimate as the years past. She told him of her father's attempts to marry her off and he told her of his father's attempt to get him a girlfriend. With each passing conversation Tenchi could feel himself begin to bristle at the mere mention of her father's name. He started to dread the nightly ritual of listening to her complain about being fostered off on a seemingly endless procession of suitors. 

Tenchi shook his head; he had been in love with her since… forever and hadn't noticed it. Remembering his thoughts from way back when Tenchi had to laugh. He had been aggravated and seethed quietly beneath his quiet façade. Not that he had been jealous mind you, why would he be jealous about her? No, he had never been jealous; he had simply worried about his friend's situation. Tenchi chuckled again even now the hollow ring to the words seemed ridiculous. 

Finally the unexpected happened, well unexpected by Tenchi anyway. She had broached the topic of sex, after having spent most of the night listen to his retaliatory rant about how his current girlfriend would not stop hounding him about it. In hindsight, Tenchi thought, maybe he had exaggerated the situation just a tad bit. Okay maybe a whole hell of a lot, but in his defense he wanted to see her just once get as jealous over him as he felt about her. Shocked beyond all reason and shaken to the core Tenchi had only managed a meager few stammering words throughout the entire conversation.

That night's dream had ended with his trying to regain his composure and her quietly somber. The next night Tenchi planned to deny the conversation had even occurred. Waiting patiently at the same park that they had been coming to for years Tenchi sat. After what had felt like hours had past Tenchi rose from the ground preparing to leave. As he rose to his full height he notice movement from the periphery of his vision. Turning his head to the object he saw her. 

Sitting peacefully, with a winsome look, she sat on the swing that hung from the tree, not just any tree, **the tree**, their tree. She sat there looking lost and lonely, at the very tree that was their secret spot to play at and cry as children. He watched as she leaned her head on one of the supporting ropes and blankly stared out across the water. Not knowing how, he knew that she hadn't seen him. Somehow he knew that she thought he wasn't going to show up, again how he knew even today he couldn't tell you. And at that moment he stood rooted to the ground watching her sullen form faintly flutter with tiny sobs. Those tears she had shed were not her first, but somehow in that moment, his feelings for her had changed. In that moment he knew his angel should never cry. His angel? He nodded his head, now as he had then, the epiphany still enlightening despite the years between that memory and his current situation. She was his angel had been from the moment he had first created her as an infant. 

He sighed as he had continued to watch her. He had felt her fear of abandonment and loneliness as if they were his own doubts and concerns. With the innocence of hope and the convictions of his epiphany guiding him, Tenchi approached her slowly. All the training that his grandfather had instilled into his agile sixteen-year-old body Tenchi stalked her with the stealthy silence of a lion hunting gazelle. His unsuspecting quarry had sat oblivious on her swinging perch, as silent feet stopped a few steps from her, then like a gunshot he tore after her.

His hands spread wide in front of him and his arms locked he pushed her with all his might with a blinding speed of motion finished his push. Wrapping strong hands around the ropes he jumped up, placing one foot on either side of her on the seat and enjoyed the view as the swing's momentum pulled them along for the ride. Once the swing had settled to a halt had Tenchi sprung off and walked around from behind to face her. As he looked down into her upturned smiling face Tenchi knew he had irretrievable lost his heart. 

A few seconds of arrhythmic heartbeats pasted before she launched herself from the swing and into his waiting arms. In Tenchi's mind he lost his virginity that night. He had lost it while enclosed in the sweetest of embraces; consumed by enraptured awe of the beauty that was willingly his; lost it while his heart sang of his love. For months to come Tenchi would race home from school to finish all his chores and homework early just so he could sleep and dream a little longer. 

And as he had grown so had the passion of his dreams. No longer the sweet innocent caresses of youthful paramours, his angel was a smart and talented seductress with years of learning his particular cravings and desires under her belt. She had known how to make him yearn with a mere look. Had been easily capable of forcing him to his knees with need in the space it took to blink. Yes, by the time he had finished high school, they made love like experienced lovers. 

With a sigh Tenchi stood up, this kind of thinking was getting him nowhere fast. He knew where his thoughts were going and he didn't want to think back to that part of his dream life. He hated that part of his dream life. After that time had occurred Tenchi had decided that his real life and his dream life were two and wholly separate worlds. Never to be confused or combined to torture him ever again.

Pacing the length of his, surprisingly large and accommodating, cell Tenchi began reminiscing about that time unintentionally. Trying to fit-in in high school had never been a big deal to Tenchi and he hadn't minded being ignored. But college? That had been a whole new ballgame. For once in his life he wanted and needed to be normal. And normal meant not dreaming about his childhood imaginary friend. So as Tenchi began to enjoy a health social life his dream life slowly started dieing away. 

At first it hadn't seemed like much, the once vividly real colors appeared imperceptibly dimmer. And as Tenchi, a curious nearly twenty-years-old, started dating in earnest in the real world the colors continued to fade. Until that fateful night when he hadn't gone to sleep at all thanks to his delicately pale skinned, raven haired enchantress of a girlfriend. The next night he had gone to sleep and dreamt of his angel, but the colors had fade to the dull cream and brown hues of an ancient photograph. As his angel vented her rage at having been stood-up for the first time in years, Tenchi had felt anger and resentment rise. Finally after having listened to her hurl accusations at him he retaliated...with the truth...and lost her... his angel. 

Flopping down on the comfortable bed Tenchi placed his face in his hands trying to hide his eyes from the image of her on that night ...the slowly settling shattered look on her face as what he said finally registered in her brain. A portion of his angel died on that night, between the heart-wrenching tears that began to flow; the hiccupping sobs that shook her body and lastly the quiet pleading she had lost a fraction of her brilliance. When he hadn't said anything to affirm her hopes that he was simply lying she muttered hushed inscrutable words at him. Her voice had been grated raw with emotion; her words had set him free from his dreams of her. The freedom he had secretly longed for in those early college years was granted and it was years later as if by accident that he would see her again in his dreams. 

They had met again in his dreams four years after that horrendous night. In a dream after Tenchi's grandfather had spoken some cryptic words and forced him to repeat them, Tenchi hadn't known they were his way back. That night he had wandered around aimlessly in his dream in what appeared to be an entire castle composed of locked doors and empty rooms. Finally Tenchi had decided it couldn't hurt to try the key on the door he had been staring at for past eternal minutes. 

So he had and there she stood... his angel. Smiling in another man's arms, laughing at another man's jokes and kissing another man's lips. His goddamn angel had been kissing someone else! Tenchi rose again from the bed, even now the thought raised his hackles. He had known he had no right to get mad. Known he had given up that right the moment he had touched Sakuya. Yet, there he was angrier than he had ever been in his entire life. Sheer blinding rage twisted his stomach into knots and clenched his fists. 

He watched as she sat in a different park at a different tree with a different man doing all the things that he had done once with her. Breaking free from the man's grasp she had risen from his side to run straight towards Tenchi. Tenchi's anger had crumbled under the instant flush of longing. Back then, seeing her from afar she still looked the young woman that had learned to use simple innocent caresses to bend him to her will. From afar still looked every bit the beautiful angel that he had stolen from heaven then shattered her hopes. From afar she was still his. When he had a closer full view of her now adult features his breath disappeared from his lungs, his head had begun to reel and his heart began to beat wildly. 

The last time he had seen her his angel had been a grown girl grasping at understanding of what womanhood was, but at that moment his angel was a goddess... ...Vibrantly defiant cyan hair, longer than he remembered, trailed down her back and past her waist. Auriferous eyes had sparkled with a hidden knowledge as primeval as time. Her body had been stunning then with dimensions that could tempt his eternally stoic grandfather. He had realized then, what he had seen the last time he saw her was simply the bud beginning to unfold. Now the rose was in full and glorious bloom with a stunning beauty that robbed him of his senses and left him with nothing but love, lust and regrets. 

As she had run straight at him, leaving Tenchi no choice but to scrambled for a place to hide. He had felt conflicted; finally deciding he should simply observe her. Learn more about her before he tried to win her back from Mr. Grabby-hands. And so he had just managed to duck for cover into the bushes as she came bursting to the tree that had previously been his hiding place. 

He listened as she called out to** him**. Her voice had gained the deeper timber and robustness of adulthood. As golden and sensual as her eyes, his angel's voice was that of a woman. Not the quivering voice of a girl on the brink but now the voice of an erotic alto with a husky lilt that sent shivers down his spine. Spankie had better appreciate the gift she was giving him. So Ibarra was his name? How stupid did that sound? Tenchi snorted as he thought of Ibarra. His ego still refusing to see the similarities his angel had noticed.

With yet another sigh Tenchi flung himself back into the pillows and rested fully on the bed. In retrospect maybe he shouldn't have given that derisive snort. Yet if it hadn't been for that snort she wouldn't have found him that night. Now looking back he didn't think he would have had the bravery necessary to approach her after that night. She had been startled by the snort. His angel turned and looked straight down at the bush that was his hiding spot. 

He had held himself ridiculously rigid in hopes that she would decide not to investigate. But she had found him hiding under a shrub within touching distance of her bare legs. Tenchi chuckled lighted as he remembered her large blinking eyes staring at him for a moment and then promptly she had done the first thing that came to her blank mind.... ... She screamed. Like a banshee that had just had its eyes clawed out by a harpy. 

And without fail Mister tall, dark and loathsome came running like the trained monkey he was. Tenchi had begged for the gods to forgive him but he hated that guy! Muscles abound Ibarra had wrapped his powerful arms around her and gently questioned her about her safety. Tenchi still felt nauseous from the saccharine sweet scene. There they were, putz-boy talking to her... as if she were a child. She in turn was acting the part of fainting delicate flower of femininity.

He hated her acting like that, that wasn't who she was; she was stronger than that. Feeling the bile rise to the top of his throat Tenchi stood and loudly gulped forcing the disgusting flavor back down. Startled by Tenchi's abrupt movements his angel sharply turned her head to look at him. The pain that had flared through Tenchi's heart, as her eyes settled on him without a hint of recognition, cut him to the bone. 

Then for a split second emotion flared in the depths of her flaxen eyes and just as rapidly as it came it left. At last what Tenchi had thought was recognition lit her eyes; swinging her head from Tenchi to Slaphappy the snausage yanker and back repeatedly she gasped, as her eyes grew large. Proclaiming Tenchi to be Ibarra's younger brother she easily extricated herself from the overstuffed squeak toy and wrapped her arms around Tenchi with a joyful squeal. And the second their skin touched true recognition had flared in her mind. 

Tenchi would have paid good money to see the look on POOR Ibarra's face when his angel...Tenchi's angel tightened her grasp around his neck and lifted her lips for his kiss. A self-satisfied smirk wormed its way to Tenchi's face as he remembered her reaction. Tenchi had thought to deny her as punishment for kissing Ibarra, but she stole the choice from him. Thrusting her hands into his hair and grasping two fistful she had pulled his head down to her mouth with a strength he hadn't believe her capable of. It took a fraction of a heartbeat after their lips met for her to deepen the kiss. Tightening her grip on his hair, opening her mouth farther and fitting her mouth to his Tenchi's mind reeled as his angel had pressed her highly voluptuous body into his rapidly hardening one. 

Somewhere at the fringe of Tenchi's consciousness he felt something pulling him away from her. Sitting up from his prone position Tenchi could still feel the frustrated anguish he had felt that morning having been awaken by his grandfather. Rushing through his shrine duties Tenchi worked with a single-mindedness that had him completely exhausted by nightfall. Immediately after dinner Tenchi had bathed and gone straight to his old room. Immediately in bed he hoped against hope that his angel would be waiting for him when fell asleep. 

And she had been. A grateful sigh of relief had rattled from Tenchi's lungs as he walked over to where she sat at the swing. Her swing, the swing... that hung from their tree... For a moment Tenchi doubted those hellacious four years had happened. He was back, his joy at his surroundings quickly erased the previous four years of empty, retched dreams. He had been returned back to one...back before he had slept with Sakuya...back before he had told her what he had done the following night...back before he had shattered her heart...back before he had lost his angel. 

With that thought on his mind he had ran to her. Ran as if he was a schoolboy again and she his only love. This time would be different, this time he wouldn't hurt her or cheat on her again and this time he would learn to keep his real life from ever interfering with this theirs ever again. 

Reaching her side he had repeated the same actions that he had done eight years ago, back when he was sixteen. He pushed her then joined her on the swing until they settled back to a stop. Then jumping off he came around to face her and had dropped to his knees in front of her at the look on her face. 

Shifting restlessly in his cage Tenchi stood then returned to the bed and turn on his stomach only to thrust his head into the pillow. Closing down to recent events Tenchi's memories offered him no reprieve. Just as before her face was turned up to him but the look of pained devastation hung over her like a heavy cloak. Dropping to his knees Tenchi had looked up at her with pleading eyes. Softly she had smiled and caressed his cheek with her hand. She had begged him to never put her through the hell of the last four years ever again. And just that simply his angel forgave him. But forgiving and forgetting are two separate things. And while his angel forgave him it had still taken him two years before she trusted him enough to allow love as a suitable topic of discussion between the two of them. 

In the space of those two years Tenchi had made a name for himself in the world of architecture. Using the images of his crisp and clear dreams to fuel his designs. Dramatic and sweeping structures were his hallmark and trade. His designs were at their best when given full flight without the constraints of others concerns and fears. Tenchi still preferred the old method of drafting versus his computer. Oh, he knew how to use his computer with as much skill as his hands but for true artistic freedom and expression he still used the tried and true pencil, triangle and scale. 

Also in those two years Tenchi held true to his vow. Never again did the affairs of his real life ever, **ever** interfere with his dream life. Dating was completely forgone; he no longer out and most importantly he no longer cared what others thought. Yeah, he knew about the office rumors and he still didn't care. He had learned the lesson of forsaking his angel once; he had absolutely no intention of learning it again. Yes, he still socialized and when the situation was required he would have lunch or the obligatory dinner with clients. But never alone, not ever again would he risk so much. He stuck to his convictions and absolutely refused to allow intimate meetings. Tenchi wasn't oblivious, at least he hadn't been since his teens; he noticed the looks he garnered. Despite his best efforts and despite his personal rules, Tenchi had always known that one day he would be tested again. Tested by fate to see if he truly deserved his angel. And this time, this test he passed. 

She had been every bit as tempting to him as the night he had ruined his perfect relationship. Smiling with an intimate knowledge of his body, Sakuya had exuded sexuality. With her adult body and sensual mannerisms she was nearly every grown mans' dream. He had his dream and nobody, but nobody was going to jeopardize his relationship with his angel ever again. Even if that meant forsaking the largest commission he had ever been offered. Tenchi refused to fall down the same path. 

He was happy again, for the first time in the last six years. His angel trusted him, believed in him and in the previous night's dream had given herself to him once again. What he had shared with the girl his angel had been, did not prepare him for what such intimacies would be like with the woman she became. And those glorious moments were not going to be ruined by his physical body's needs. Yes, his body longed for the release that his dreams promised. Yes, it had been two years at the least since he had been physically intimate with a woman. And yes he found Sakuya just attractive as he had in college. But the differences in judgment between the youthful follies of a boy and the grown man gifted with a squandered treasure were as vast as the universe. And this time he learned. 

His angel had trusted him. She hadn't questioned him when she had told him that he was going to miss one night with her due to a business dinner that might run late. She didn't bat and eye when he had told her who would be attending the dinner. She did nothing but ask him to return to her. Nothing else simply, "Return to me." Then without a backwards glance she left. And he had felt so cold, with a soul-shuddering chill that left him with an ominous feeling. Fate had placed him in the same place, as he had been so long ago. This time he had to get it right. 

And so he had. The hostile look of frustrated lust on Sakuya's face hadn't swayed Tenchi's resolve in the slightest. He knew what that temptation meant and this time he heeded the warnings. After that fateful night so long ago both he and Sakuya had tried to make a go at a real relationship. But the person that had intrigued her wasn't the person she had dated. 

She had been attracted to a dreamy, handsome, powerful young man that had a constant far off look, like he didn't belong to this time or universe. He had an aura that radiated silent power and hidden passion. And that night he had been everything she had imagined him to be, strong and passionate, dreamy and giving. He had made love to her like her body had been a temple and he the devoted worshiper. That night had been magical, mystical and intoxicating. 

Nothing has or had compared to that night not once with anyone else in her life. Only he had been able to awaken those feelings inside her. But the very next night all that had changed. He seemed normal, plain, simple. He was just another boy and she wasn't his precious...what had he called her when he had cried out? Oh yeah, she wasn't his precious angel. That very next night all the magic had gone, his eyes seemed just as dead as all the other boys. She tried to find the boy that had intrigued her but alas in the three months that their relationship lasted she hadn't found a trace of the magical boy from that night. 

And so she had dumped him. She tried to let him down easy. Inn truth it hurt her to know that her leaving hadn't been the heart-rending blow for him that losing that magical boy had been for her. Yet now, four years later stood the magical man that the once longed for lost boy had become. He stood before her with that same otherworldly feel to him, the dreamy gaze, and the aura of mysticisms. She wanted him, plain and simple. She wanted him, right then, right there! 

His body had filled out more than she thought it would have. More muscular than she remembered and easily six inches taller than she remembered, he towered over her. His broad powerful shoulders diminished down into a perfectly trim waist. His shirt stretched tautly across his chest as he removed his sports coat. His long fingers flexed as he rolled up his sleeves and the glimpse of arms that she received as he prepared to make amendments to his initial concept drawings tantalized her into fantasizing. The Tenchi that she had fallen in love and in lust with was standing and seemingly stripping before her. 

He would be hers again. That dreamy lover would be hers again. Not once in the past four years had she stop fantasizing about him in some way or another. But now that he was right in front of her, oozing all the magnetism that had turned her on before, she was fairly drooling with want. That first time, he had still been a boy turning into a man. The boy had been a suggestion a sample of the man to be. And now he was a man and GOD was he ever a man! Tearing her eyes from his body Sakuya looked around the table to judge others expressions. All the women pretty much reacted the same as she had. And the men for the most part seemed oblivious to the women's reactions too engrossed in his explanation of his plans and concepts. 

When his presentation and dinner were over, Sakuya managed to haggle a ride to her condo from him. Only under duress from his associates had the young man been willing to oblige her. The snub to her ego was quickly ignored as she convinced him to walk her to her door and then in for a nightcap. After a few minutes of small talk about college and mutual friends Sakuya made her move. 

She sprang onto him attempting to pounce him with the full force of her lust. With all his grandfather's training Tenchi had seen her telegraph her intentions well before her actions, and at the last moment deftly move well out of the way. With a mouth full of cushion Sakuya tried to compose herself from her confusion. Then once composed she pounced again and again he dodged at the last minute. The attack and retreat continued on for several moments until finally Sakuya's patience snapped and she issued her ultimatum. "Either we have sex or you leave." 

And with the aplomb that she hadn't know he had, Tenchi rose to his full height turned to face her, bowed deeply. His raven ponytail slipped from his back to brush across her calf as she sat in front of him. He said his goodbyes and promptly turned for the door. Not a hint of a second thought in any of his actions. She couldn't believe it. He was leaving her. Her, Sakuya his beloved angel? It didn't make sense; she had seen the want in his eyes! Hadn't she? As he passed through her door she could have sworn she heard him say... ... 

He had been so proud at his tolerance. The seductiveness that had ensnared him in college had disillusioned him as an adult. When he thought he was out of earshot he spoke to himself, "I will never betray my angel's trust again." 

"But you use to call **me** your angel?" Sakuya confused voice petered out whispering more to herself than to the silent shadow disappearing behind the closing door. She hadn't thought that the lancing pain in her chest could be caused by something as simple as Tenchi refering to another woman has his angel. But his simple comment hurt fiercely, with an agonizing ache of a re-opened wound.

Almost dismissively he had heard and turned to question. Why did she think she was his angel? And so he found out that even at his most selfish he had still longed to be with his angel. Suddenly all the mystery and attraction that Sakuya had represented to him in college was explained. Looking at her again, this time with newly opened eyes he saw what exactly it had been all those years ago that had held him. In the dreamy vision of night, with the lights off and under the soft glow of the moon, her face faintly very, very faintly resembled his angel's. Her moves, which had seemed so graceful even just a few moments ago, now only seemed a pale mockery of the original's natural feral grace. The eyes so clear and blue looked at his then and even now with almost the same love/lust as the gold of his angel. The similarities shocked him, but the vast differences astounded him. 

That woman was what his waking mind had found as the closest replacement reality could make for his angel. And so she had held his fascination in the real world as easily as his angel had in the dream world. Remembering back, when he looked at her the similarities had been easy to see. Yet how had he allowed his mind to replace one for the other back then? Was it his need for a real flesh and blood physical experience? Either way, should he tell her the truth or let her believe what she wanted? Deciding that silence was the better part of valor Tenchi returned to leave out the door, and out of her life. 

The next morning, which for Tenchi had been all of three hours later, Tenchi's grandfather ordered the young man home for the weekend. And so that weekend after restless nights of dreams that did not contain his angel, Tenchi went home to Okayama. Once back in his old life and old routines Tenchi dreamt his first dream of his angel in more than three days. Conversation had dominated the dream. She had fought with him almost word for word the same arguments as that night so long ago. 

Time replayed itself again to where Tenchi had admitted his infidelity she turned to him half expecting the same response. Instead he walked to her side and whispered in her ear how much he loved her and how much he had missed her touch and her touch alone. Tenchi watched as the deeper meaning of his words sank in and his ranting angel swiftly turned to seduction. With honeyed lips and questing hands his angel gave herself to him and took all that he had to offer. The next morning Tenchi woke to his grandfather's calls. 

"Tenchi I have something of great importance to your future to tell you, eat your breakfast and meet me at the shrine." 

"Yes, Sensei." Tenchi respectfully bowed and reverted to the ingrained response. After breakfast Tenchi slowly trudged his way up the steps to the shrine. 

In the courtyard sitting on one of the benches located and the perimeter Tenchi's grandfather waited for his grandson's approach. Arriving at his grandfather's side Tenchi stood and looked questioningly at his elder. "Sit boy." Yosho commanded. Tenchi complied. "I sensed the morning I called you that you had finally chosen the path that leads to your destiny." 

Tenchi shot a startled look at his grandfather. Yosho continued despite the obvious distress on his grandson's face. "This path will lead you though perils great and small, all for the hand of an angel." Once again Tenchi shot his grandfather a startled look. "You have chosen this path indirectly all your life up until six years ago. But that path has been restored to you after Wednesday night's actions." For a third time Tenchi shot his grandfather a startled look. 

"Tenchi, I have a question for you?" Waiting for the answering nod of the slack jawed Tenchi to continue. "What was you dream last night about?" 

"N...n...n...nothing." Tenchi stammered his voice an awkward squeak. 

"Was there by chance a woman in your dreams? A woman that looks like this?" Yosho spoke as he slowly revealed a photograph from its position next to his side. With a startled gasp Tenchi could once again only nod slack jawed. "This is the picture of the Princess Ryoko of Shihotasaki. She is betrothed to a Juraian prince of whom she has never met. The prince is required to perform certain tasks as part of the betrothal ritual. If you want her in your life you must first initiate the betrothal process, and then the bonding ceremony. Although I do believe that part of the bonding process has already occur for the two of you. Have you made love to her in your dreams Tenchi?" 

Shocked Tenchi again simply nodded. 

"Then you two are further along in the bonding process that I had originally thought. Well that aside, are you willing to take her hand in marriage Tenchi?" 

With eyes riveted to the photograph Tenchi's resolve solidified and he spoke, "More willing that I have words to express Sensei." 

"Good, then all my training will not go to waste. Now Tenchi, you will have to travel into space to find her, but trust me you will find her." With a groan the older man rose slowly and stiffly from his seat. "When you do find her, promise to invite me to the wedding."

Tenchi had accepted all that his grandfather had told him without question and without hesitation. He hadn't asked how his grandfather knew about such otherworldly matters. Hadn't doubted a word the old man had said. The opportunity to be near and to finally meet his angel in the flesh had cleared his mind of all questions except how to get to her. And now here he was, after all of that, finally at the palace. Not just any palace, her palace. She was somewhere within the hallowed halls. Hearing footsteps sounding on the flagstones outside his cell Tenchi rose to a sitting position to look through the bars at who was arriving. 

"Rise champion and speak with the King's first Concubine Lady Washu." The guard spoke. 

Standing to his feet nervous with giddy anticipation Tenchi held his breath waiting with hungry eyes to get his first glimpse of his angel with his real eyes. 

The silent swish of cloth against stone herald the woman's entrance. With a startled gasp the red-haired woman stared at the young man behind the bars. _IT'S HIM_! The passing resemblance that Washu had noticed as the he was dragged from his ship to the cell was now dramatically obvious. Washu's eyebrows disappeared into her hairline as she also noted the remarkable similarity between the young man before her and Ibarra. Washu stared him up and down after years of seeing her daughter's renderings of his face she felt as if she knew this young man before her. _Yes, it had to be him. The face, the hair, the eyes... lord, yes the eyes_. This had to be her daughter's dream prince. This was the young man that caused her daughter to spend every waking hour longing for sleep, sighing with contentment when the brat finally went to bed. 

What Washu had thought was simply a childhood fantasy taken well beyond acceptable limits, had in hindsight been a remarkable bond that had existed since before birth. Ryoko's talents as an artist had found its sole purpose in drawing this young man. In every position, in every detail and as Ryoko's talent had increased so too did the detail of his image. The man that stood before Washu was an exact duplicate of the marble bust that Ryoko had toiled and slaved over for the past two years, claiming that by making a physical representation of him that made him just a little more real. Well here he stood just as handsome as the statue. 

Tenchi released the breath he hadn't realized that he had been holding. This wasn't his angel, but the resemblance was striking. Noticing his confused appraisal of her looks Washu explained, "I'm her mother." A silent 'Oh' formed on his mouth, as he understood exactly what she meant. 

"Would you like to meet her?" Washu questioned certain about the answer. 

Not trusting his voice, Tenchi nodded at the offer to grant him his wish. 

"Well than I suggest you dust yourself off because she'll be here any minute." Washu had to chuckle at his flight of the bumble bee movements as he tried to clean himself up as much as possible. 

"Mother are you down here?" Ryoko questioned she had lost her mother somewhere at the last corner and now she was really lost. In all her life at the palace Ryoko had never visited this section of the palace. 

"Yes, over here dear." Washu's bemused voice answered. "Just keep following my voice from the sounds of it you're closer than either one of us thinks you are." 

"Either one of us? Are you in there with some… …" The question died on Ryoko's lips as she rounded the last corner and her eyes immediately met magnetic brown.

Silence reigned as the two dream lovers stared at each other. Tenchi was the first to regain his wits. "My angel?" he questioned timidly. 

Nodding with her mouth wide open Ryoko simply stared at her now living dream lover. 

Shocked beyond rational thought Ryoko could only nod her reply. HE was here! HE was REAL! HE was hers! This was the young man that the advisors were going to demand she marry? Oh hell yeah, she could handle this situation. Her Tenchi was the Juraian prince that had endured two years of the Betrothal Ritual? Her Tenchi had survived the gauntlet of Herculean tasks and responded correctly to the seemingly endless sphinx riddles? Her Tenchi had endure two years trapped in a space ship, albeit a Juraian ship tree, traveling across the cosmos performing heroic deeds that turned him into a living legend almost a full year before his arrival at the palace? He had done all of that and more? Her Tenchi? 

As shock gave way to stronger emotions Ryoko sailed across the floor to Tenchi stopping abruptly in front of the bars. Hesitating only slightly Ryoko fazed into his cell, once inside fear stopped Ryoko cold. Standing directly in front of him, staring into his eyes Ryoko stood rigid. Tenchi watched his angel exhibit the latent powers that he had grown accustomed to through the years. Then he waited patiently, as she stood just out of reach, to take her in his arms. As seconds rolled into minutes and minutes dragged aimlessly on Tenchi's patience began to wane. And lastly when she seemed to become as pale as the alabaster tones of the marble in his cell, Tenchi moved. With what felt to him the slowest motions his body was capable, he took her into his arms and claimed her mouth with finality. 

She had been frozen by her thoughts.... Was he really her Tenchi? Hadn't she just made him up? What if he didn't live up to her dream Tenchi? What if he wasn't her Tenchi? What if he was and she rejected him? Could she stand to lose him in real life? Did she love him or the dream? Had she simply created a man that resembled him or was he the real McCoy? What would she do… … her wandering thoughts were cut off as her mouth was assaulted by the most glorious of sensations. She felt his lips on hers then his tongue lapping at her lips for entrance. Which she granted and all at once the kiss deepened into a passionate firestorm. Faintly in the last coherent recesses of her mind Ryoko registered the fact that her dreams had not prepared her for the truth of reality. 

His dreams had always seemed so unbelievably real for the most part, the colors, sights, sounds and even the feel of everything had felt genuine. Now with his angel's body pressed hard against his, her mouth open to his plundering, Tenchi realized the dramatic difference between dreams and the sharpness of real life. The feel of her petal soft skin beneath his fingers sent tingles through his body. The amazing suppleness of her body drove his desires to a fevered pitch. He was losing control hard and fast. Hard was not a word that should cross his mind at that moment. She was so very soft in comparison to his body. She melted into him. She felt like velvet to the touch. And he couldn't touch enough of her. 

Before she realized what had happened she was beginning to disrobe him. Her physical need to actually feel what had happened many times in her dreams overriding her senses. Want. She wanted...no she needed... no she loved him. No…truth be told she need and wanted and loved him, all of him. Making short work of his jacket and shirt she moved onto his pants. Removing the belt, unbuttoning the button and lowering the zipper. 

Ecstasy, that's all that Tenchi felt. Ryoko was undressing him. Feeling her hands caress across his naked chest tore ragged gasps from his lips. Yet despite her relentless hands, her lips remained firmly pressed to his, her mouth open and plundering his at her discretion. Wave after wave of pure rapture rolled over him as her hands began to investigate his lower body more intently. Tenchi could neither stop the throaty groan that rumbled through him, nor stop her hands from their focused journey. 

The loud, repetitiveness of someone clearing their throat dragged Tenchi's sex-addled mind out of the glorious fog that surrounded it. Opening heavy-lidded eyes, Tenchi blinked several times before the lust-driven haze cleared from his vision. And once his vision cleared his mind snapped to reality with a shattering rush. Eyes focusing to look up at the glaring image of Ryoko's mother quickly dashed any lingering lustful urges.

Placing his hands on Ryoko's shoulders and thrusting her away, Tenchi put an end to their spiraling descent into sensual bliss. Seeing the glazed look in her eyes and the pouting full lips was almost his undoing. What ended up being his undoing were her insistent hands. After having been ripped away from the joy of his body, Ryoko had no other thoughts than to return. Hands with a mind of their own moved to claim what was hers. One arm wrapped around his neck to return his mouth to hers while the other reached into his open pants to touch his underwear-covered erection. Tenchi bit his lower lip to keep the loud moan from filling the room around them. 

Ryoko's frustration at Tenchi's lower body's continued covering was growing by leaps and bounds. His moan spurred her forward; with an animalistic growl Ryoko jumped him. Wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist with one seamless move Ryoko fazed both herself and Tenchi out of their clothes. _Now_, she thought, _we can get down to business_. Mouth moving restlessly over his, Ryoko simply couldn't get enough. 

_Oh boy!_ Washu thought. _Things have certainly gotten WAY OUT OF CONTROL_! Washu was momentarily unsure what to do. She had never seen her daughter react to anyone but Ibarra with anything more than her usual cocky arrogance. And it had taken months for Ryoko to warm up to a gentle friendship with Ibarra. Now her she stood watching her daughter practically rape the equally lusty young man. Strike that, for rape to occur at least one party has to be unwilling and from the looks of it this young man was anything but unwilling. Washu had thought that after having cleared her throat until she felt hoarse and Tenchi had reluctantly pulled away from her daughter that she would finally be able to get some answers. _But Oh no! Ryoko just had to take things one-step further_. Washu shook her head. _Like mother, like daughter I guess._

Refusing to be embarrassed at seeing both her daughter and this gorgeous young man wrapped intimately around each other Washu continued to stare at the pair. Finally with a resigned sigh Washu knew that there was no way to stop the impending royal wedding, at least if the groping pair was any indication as to their compatibility. Thinking on that point Washu tilted her head to the side, appraised her daughter's reaction to the young man, then left. Issuing commands with the guard that no one not even the Emperor himself was to enter the cell, unless the consulate was in attendance. Washu knew that it took at the very most 4 hours to assemble the consulate so that should give the two young love birds more than enough time for a least one coupling. Smirking Washu progressed down the vast corridors to question her Emperor about his taking of a second wife. _Laws be damned it should have been me!! Treaties or not!_


End file.
